Hello and Welcome to Mrs. Smoke's 8th grade LA Class Webpage. We're excited to share awesome student creativity and 21st Century Skills with all of you here in our virtual museum of student work and news site. We hope you enjoy your visit.
I'm definitely a super fan of this new book. With the multiple applications to help students improve their writing skills while embracing critical thinking and collaboration, it is an excellent resource for any 6-12 English/LA teacher.
Wacky We-Search Reports by Barry Lane
I simply love books that are stacked with ideas to help inspire my own creativity, and this is one of those treasure troves. This book is stacked with ways students can research fact-based information, synthesize it, and publish original and humorous writings.
Unjournaling by Dawn DiPrince and Cheryl Miller Thurston
This is a list of writing prompts for students to stretch their brains a bit and embrace creative writing. My favorite prompts are those that require new vocabulary growth.
Project Based Learning Handbook by Buck Institute
Simply the best resource to help design and focus any Project Based Learning Unit. I love that all the details are presented here as I begin to design any new project.
Deeper Reading by Kelly Gallagher
This the perfect companion reference book to Write Like This. Through these easily implemented ideas to promote deeper levels of understanding text, characterization, themes, and more, it is my number one go to resource for inspiration.
Novel Ideas for Reading Teachers by Kay Martin and Tina Willoughby
Another great list of inspirational ideas are to be found in this resource. Though these are meant for no-tech classrooms, I easily can incorporate them into new and innovative ways for students to summarize and analyze literature.
Yoga for the Brain by Dawn DiPrince and Cheryl Miller Thurston
The perfect companion to Unjournaling. More often than not I scan both of these books for inspiration to partner with current literature studies. I pull ideas from here to use a focus writings on the day's content or theme.
Intel Assessing Projects
I can't count how often I reference this website I use it so often. As I formulate new projects, I'm always developing new assessment tools. This site provides a variety of assessment products and performances that could be used in project based learning.